It is in my opinion that I have single handily risen the ibuprofen industry's profit margin. All because of this headache chapter. Which has been the hardest thing I have ever written in my life. And that includes the incredibly boring paper about the Monarchy's role in Canada that I had to write for my Politics class. And the sad part is that much unlike that Politics paper, I so desperately wanted to write this chapter.

Which is probably the only reason I sat through 5 pain staking rewrites. So sorry for the wait! In the end I finally decided on this little thing, which I am hoping make sense. Maybe it's because I refuse to do another rewrite, but I kind of like how it came out.

I still can't believe how much this story took off... all of a sudden it became so popular, almost overnight. I remember the days of being so impressed at landing 5 reviews a chapter. Now there's almost 10 times that amount... I love you so much, thanks for all your support:

t.dragona, Deeply creepy, plummy-kins, foxdreamer, Ethorin, RoxasIsReal13, Viskii, Jewelle2, yayubaru1, Megan Russo, Golden feathers Edward, YankeeSamson, Shado-Ookami, LiableToSnap, blucross, Ryu012692, No To Logins, iHamster, too-much-inspiration, jeli26, Athina Dark-Angel of Death, justarandomNightWorldfan, samasim, anonymous, Phobias Athena, KingdomHeartsRox, lacrima-tuja, Kathrine, yumeniai, random idiot person, Awesome socks, Jisa, Noitar Arat, LightDarkandChoas, Siffie the third, BYoshi1993, xDarklightx, Kerowyn Van'Seph, Lappalla, Isis the Sphinx, theNewDesire, Dark Angel of Wind, The elusive shadow, goth-girl-pink, Fufu-The-Ninja, Smoochynose, Chronos Mephistopheles, I love cute things.

/

Click,

Click,

Click.

Each move was systematic, the puzzle pieces danced underneath his finger tips as if they were there own thinking entity. Each one slipping into their new home with breathless efficiency. It had been so long sense Yami had played a proper dark game. So long sense he had been able to create one of his own. It was exhilarating to be back in control once more. Already Yami could feel the magic gathering beneath his finger tips, itching to summon the final act.

Penalty Game.

A wave of ecstasy rolled down Yami's spine, causing his entire body to shiver in taunt emotion. So long the magic of the item's had been pulsing inside of him, begging to be set free. Do to the task they had been so good at in the past. Yugi had made Yami promise to stop being both Judge and Jury. To stop punishing those as he would have as Pharaoh. To be a god among men, and exact divine judgement to those who dared touch and hurt that what was his.

For what better plead of guilt was there to hurt such a pure, forgiving soul? Not even a dark game could reveal more of a person then one who would dare to damage his light. It had been far too long since Yami had been able to play a proper game against his enemies.

And for the first time in years he felt alive. Every inch of his body thumbed with pent up excitement, of exhilaration that ran too deep to really place a proper name to.

Another piece slid into place, soon followed by two more. The tile puzzle the Items had created for Yami and the woman to play had been perfect in design. Too difficult to even consider doing without time to pause and think about every move, yet so straight forward it seemed painfully obvious.

Two more pieces slid into place, and Yami was graced with the briefest image of the end result. The sennen eye stared at Yami. Or at least what would soon become the sennen eye. For the lower quarter of the puzzle was still in pieces. And as Yami shifted the pieces around once again, the picture shuffled and disappeared. A well thought out dark game could have all the complexity as any game of Duel monsters. Such a simple concept, so much thought.

That's when the frustration set in.

Thinking carefully about his next move, and the three or four moves that the simple change would create, Yami slid the piece closest to him into the empty spot and slid the one to his left in its place. If his strategy was going to work there should only five more moves he would have to make to complete this puzzle.

If he could look past the giant mess it would make of his puzzle of course. That was the twist in this dark game. There was always a trick. While the game itself was fair, advantage given to neither players, the games were always designed to pick at the challenger's worst personality traits.

Impatience... not the most evil trait in the world, no where near the realms of the greed, envy and jealousy that had plagued Yami's previous victims. But it would be this woman's undoing.

Yami shifted, lifting himself up off his knees and up onto the back of his heels. He had to admit the woman was lasting far longer then he had thought she would. Most people would have cheated by now. Given up and taken the easy way out.

Reaching forward Yami pushed another piece into place, not really paying attention to what he was doing. He had an exact image of the pieces he wanted to move in his mind. So instead, Yami allowed his awareness to spread outward, and seep past the glass wall separating them to reach the woman's mind.

The frustration that was rolling from the mind crashed into Yami with the force of a solid brick wall. Yami felt the corner of his lips move up into a self satisfied smirk. The feelings were practically unbearable, even from the weak touch that Yami was feeling. It radiated of her very being...

Yami slid another piece of his puzzle into place, watching happily as it allowed the sennen eye in the centre to take form once more. 3 pieces left, and they were set up in the perfect sequence. It wouldn't take any effort to move them to where they belonged.

Yami reached forward to slip the pieces in, slid ding two of them down the clear path from the top of the puzzle to the bottom. When they finally made it to their final resting place the pieces would snap together with a third piece to form the swirled line that marked the bottom of the eye. Which would leave only one piece left to do, a simple process really. What could be difficult about moving a single piece to the left?

Those thoughts were shattered instantly, even before Yami had been able to slide those two pieces into place the rustle of heavy material caught Yami's attention. The sense of impatience and frustration that had been so overwhelming his competitor had reached it's bursting point. Out of the corner of his eye Yami watched as the witch stood up, and started to walk towards the door.

Apparently enough had been enough for his opponent. Even at the awkward angle Yami was facing he could see that Minerva's puzzle lay not even a quarter done. She had been struggling with it, for even the pieces that were matched were spread out in a hodgepodge of twos and threes. No rhyme or reason to any of the location, not even a drop of strategy. The puzzle had been too much for her to wrap her head around. How odd that a grown woman could not even grasp the concept of something originally developed for kids. Even though she didn't actually know what a tile puzzle was, it wasn't the most complex ideas in the world. Unless of course, one refused to allow their mind to grow. This place, these people seemed so isolated. Almost as if they refused to connect with the rest of the world on principle.

Interesting

The doors were, of course nothing more than decor. They added to the esthetic appeal of the steel rooms. Building towards the mood, the inexplicable feeling of being closed in, of being trapped with no where to go. The door offered a way out, one that was closed off.

It also provided the perfect opportunity to cheat, if they could figure out someway to get past steel bars. Even from this distance Yami could see the wand that was perched in Minerva's hand, pointing dangerously towards the doorway, a look of purposeful intent all over her thin face.

Leaning back on his heels, Yami turned back towards his puzzle. He know that at this point in the game it didn't matter whether or not he slid that final piece into place. The game would be over in a few minutes. What would be the fun in slipping out the game from under a woman who was about to hammer the last nail into her coffin?

No, Yami could wait a few seconds longer.

For the wielder of an item, ones sense self and their sense of the world around them was amplified during a dark game. Even if he closed his eyes Yami could know where Minerva was standing, sense the magic that she was allowing to flow through her wand. A weak flicker to be sure, but it was there all the same. But it felt... overshadowed in a way. Obscured by something else.

Something stronger. At least that part was obvious. Yami could feel the presence of something all but ripping through the woven strands of his game. It was if the entire game was being pulled apart, strand by strand before it was hastily put back together when whatever it was passed.

Who on earth could be having this much affect on the Dark Game? Scratch that, What on Earth had the ability to break into a Dark Game? It wasn't an easy task, they were designed to be impregnable. One would have to have an absolute knowledge of both the workings of the Millennium Puzzle and Yami's thought process. There was only one person that Yami could even consider being qualified for that kind of thing. But he wasn't here right now. It wasn't possible, not in the condition that Yami had found him in. It wasn't possible... it couldn't be.

The foreign presence in the game shifted once more, and Yami focused entirely on tracing it's path. Shutting his eyes, Yami allowed himself to be turned around until he was facing the windowed wall once more. When Yami opened his eyes he could literally see the ripples in his magic from the disruption. He could feel the places where the dark magic had shifted away from their original locations, gathering towards where the disruption was. Each strand thrumming with excitement and nervous energy.

As whatever this was materialized, the shadows began to slow down, slinking back to their designated places within the structure of the game. As they slipped back and cleared Yami's vision, he was able to watch with intense interest as a figure slowly steeped free from one of the walls of Minerva's box. With what appeared to be absolutely no effort, this person had effectively introduction himself into the dark game in a way that shouldn't be possible.

Scarlet eyes grew wide as Yami took in the shock of black hair, each point tipped with magenta and bangs dipped in liquid gold. The breath caught in his throat when the figure scanned the room, passing the wide window, pausing only to catch Yami's gaze for a single second. The Amethyst of the person's eyes glittered in the non-light of the dark game. The brilliant colour instantly froze every cell in Yami's body, locking it in place. Yami watched as the triumphant smile on the figure's face fell into a tense frown as they stared at each other. The skin between his eyebrow's tightened before he looked away looked away, turning to look at Yami's opponent.

It wasn't possible.

Yugi couldn't be here, he wouldn't have come here, he had absolutely no reason to be here. Before Yami had started the dark game, Yugi hadn't even been coherent. Yami had barely been able to sense his mind through the link of souls. Only just able to sense the weak fluctuation of Yugi's life, buried somewhere beneath some sort of filter. It hadn't felt like Yugi would be able to wake up for at least a few days, if he had been able to at all.

Yet... It looked like Yugi. Still topless, still wearing those dark wash jeans that Yami had so desperately tried to talk him out of wearing day Yugi had been taken. They had argued over the esthetic appeal of leather and of the comfort and simplicity of jeans. Yugi had won, and Yami remembered him being so proud of himself. For almost 10 minutes Yugi had strutted around the house in what he had declared the nice, breathable denim compared to miserable hot and sweaty leather.

Now the jeans were absolutely destroyed: ripped, torn and blood stained. Who ever this was, had captured his light's appearance perfectly. Every single bandage that had so effectively burned itself into into Yami's memory was still there, not a single one out of place. Right down to the occasional blood stain that blotted the white linen and the one's wound around Yugi's face, hiding Yugi's left eye from view.

It couldn't be Yugi. That wasn't possible. Even if Yugi had somehow managed to pull himself into the dark game, Yugi had to have known that he wouldn't survive in here. Not as weak as he was, physically and mentally drained. The dark game would eat him alive. Yami scowled as he noticed the slumped frame of his light's imposter, and the way the unhealthy thin figure shook. Exactly as Yugi had looked during his game against Pegasus, exactly as he would have looked if he was here...

But for what reason would Yugi have to join the game? Wouldn't he want those who had hurt him so badly to be punished? It was the logical response. For even his light would have to understand that by separating them, these people had given Yami the right to exact whatever punishment he wished? Yugi wouldn't try to stop the game, he understood that this was Yami's domain, Yami's right as Pharaoh... Yugi wouldn't interfere.

No, this person was most defiantly not Yugi. Every ounce of logic that Yami's mind was feeding him clearly stated that the foreign presence in his game wasn't his light. It must be Minerva. She was taking her own sweet time in unlocking that door and ending the dark game. Maybe that hadn't been her goal all along. Maybe she had been trying to trick Yami, using another spell to try and confuse him, distract him from his goal. Making the image of the only person she knew would stop him from being able to finish the puzzle.

Yami had to admit, that if this was Minerva's strategy, it was working. The puzzle at his feet had lain completely forgotten as he stared at this Yugi replica. All thoughts of finishing the game had completely disappeared as he tried to figure out whether or not this was actually his light. But Yami had not mentioned that player could distract another player when he had explained the rules.

So for all intensive purposes, if the Yugi impersonator was nothing more than a trick created by Minerva, the game should have come to an end. For wasn't attempting to distract a player without being told that you could, cheating?

Yet as the seconds slowly trickled by, the game didn't stop, didn't change. Minerva was still staring intently at the door, her wand twitching nervously in her fingers. The Yugi impersonator was still standing there, watching Minerva unblinkingly, but the witch never took notice.

Yami resisted the urge to bite his bottom lip in a decidedly nervous, child like action. If this fake Yugi wasn't a creation of Minerva's who or what was it? Or, was it possible that this person actually was...

What if it was Yugi? What if these wizards had forced him to joining the game in a desperate ploy to rescue their friend? Yami couldn't just leave Yugi alone in the dark game, especially not one of this own creation. Over the years, Yugi had improved greatly since Pegasus' game. Under normal circumstance Yugi would have been more than able to survive any dark game. But, whatever was suppressing Yugi's energy levels, could and easily would be the death of him. If Yugi couldn't support his light, then there would be nothing to protect him from being devoured by Yami's game.

"Damn it" Yami swore, narrowing his eyes at the small figure just on the other side of the glass. Could this be his light? There was really only one way to tell if this was truly Yugi or not. Closing his eyes, Yami drew in a deep, steadying breath. Erasing his mind of all outside thought, Yami slowly reached into his mind, searching for the silvery thread that linked his mind with Yugi's. Releasing his breath, Yami reached out to the thread, and let it envelope him completely.

The breath hitched in Yami's throat as the feeling of light so pure that it burned silver tricked down the link. The only thing in Yami's world that burnt so brightly was Yugi. Even with his eyes closed Yami could see the light that shone so brilliantly in the dark game. "oh gods..." Yami moaned, a chill running down his spine from the euphoria that only Yugi's light could bring. Rational thought all started to shut down as the reality of the situation set in. His light was just on the other side of the glass... Yugi was so close, so close that Yami could almost feel his light's presence wrap around his soul once more. So good...

But it didn't feel right... there wasn't enough to sooth the burning ache in Yami's soul. Yami paused, tyring to regain his thoughts as he searched through his memories. The edges, due to his most recent stint in the puzzle were broken and jagged. But no amount of time locked in the puzzle was enough to make Yami forget what Yugi's mind felt like, and this as good as it felt was no where close. Whatever light remained in Yugi's soul was fading rapidly. The light was too dim to burn away the parts of the dark game which wished to devour it.

A fist clenched its way around Yami's heart and his lips raised into a feral snarl. A part of Yami's mind lifted at the sight of his light up and standing. However that small portion was overpowered by a rush of anger and petrifying fear. Yugi's body was hunched forward as his small body tried desperately to curl into it's self in protection. Even so many feet away Yami could see the layer of sweat that lined Yugi's skin and the intemperate tremors that ransacked Yugi's body. Yugi wouldn't survive here much longer... was that why the these people had sent him here? As an ultimatum to Yami? Minerva's life in exchange for Aibou's? Crimson eyes narrowed as Yami's fist clenched so tightly that he could feel the delicate skin of his palm brake. But that was the least of his worries at the moment.

How dare they try to use his own in such a fashion. They had probably dragged Yugi out of his bed the moment his eyes opened, forcing Yugi to explain what was happening. The feelings of anger completely washed over Yami's mind, swirling and building until even the most extreme of penalty games didn't feel like a good enough punishment. Yami just wanted to rip these people apart limb form limb until no part of their body was recognizable.

First however, Yami had to regain the diminutive amount of control these people had been able to wrest from him. Did they actually think that Yami would not be able to reconnect with his light and protect him? This was Yami's dark game, the possibilities were endless as long as Yami wished them to be. Reaching further into the link, Yami slid his mind open. He was so very careful to keep Yugi's mind separate from the portion of his own that was connected to the dark game. For the last thing Yugi needed right now as more exposer.

Within seconds of opening his side of the link however, Yugi's mind brushed up against Yami's so intimately that his knee's shook. Yugi turned his head, and his eyes grew wide in excitement, longing and shock. Yami took a deep, shuddering breath, all of a sudden holding back that one portion of his mind was become a near herculean task.

"Mou Hitori no Boku?"

The voice was just as perfect as Yami remembered, and he shivered at the sound that sounded as f it had been whispered in his ear. Too long Yami had been separated from his light... far too long for either of them. But Yami was going to end this here and now. Yami's cocky smirk once again spread out against his features as Yami wrapped his awareness around Yugi's soul... and pulled.

"Aibou..."

/

Yugi held back a moan as his legs started to shake and quake underneath his suddenly impossible weight. The breath caught in Yugi's throat as his head started to pound and his heart started to break its normal rhythm. Slowly beating faster and faster until Yugi could feel it smash against his ribs until it plunged down to a snails pace.

The lack of any semblance of a rhythm caused Yugi's chest to burn and he coughed violently as the cold started to close in around him. It felt like he was breathing in ice. It was only know that Yugi started to realize that major flaw in the amazing plan that Yugi had concocted in the hospital wing. He should have thought this through a little better.

For as he stood there, staring blankly at Minerva's back, Yugi realized that there was no way he was going to be able to just negate the dark game like he had hoped. The magic that Yami had summoned to control the game was draining every single drop of the magic Yugi had to offer, and the collar sapped away everything else.

Yugi's body spasmed and shook despite how hard he fought to remain still and in control. With fingers that trembled far more violently Yugi wanted to admit, he grazed the metal around his neck. Years ago, Yugi had burned the pads of his fingers off when he had tried to rebuild the Millennium Puzzle in a fire. The tips had long since been desensitized, there were times that Yugi could barely feel what was there. However, Yugi was forced to rip the scarred flesh away as the metal burned too hot to touch. Already the heat on his neck was becoming just as unbearable as the beating of his heart.

Definitely should have thought this through a little better.

Shutting his eyes, Yugi felt the small reserve of magic he had been gathering since Minster had put the collar on him. There wasn't a lot left. Barely enough for Yugi to be able to negate the dark game like had originally hoped. That was why the dark had been able to grab onto him like this. His and Yami's ability to coincide with one another was a balancing act. They couldn't have more of light and dark then the other... or the larger one would over power the other.

The dark would try to smother the light; as the light would try to scatter the dark.

It had been a nice plan, they always were in the beginning. But Yugi had been delusional if he actually thought it would work out. With the dark game sapping every ounce of energy he had, his original plan was shot. To add insult to injury, when Yugi had appeared within the game it was not with Yami as he had originally hoped, but Minerva. Minerva who could not even sense yugi's presence in the game. Yugi was nothing more than a spirit in here, not a part of the games programming. He was as good as invisible to anyone but his soul partner. Yugi realized that he only way he was gong to save this woman, would be if he could convince his dark to shut down the dark game himself.

Yugi knew that the creator of a dark game had the ability to do such a thing. Only, of course if they weren't losing. At which time the Dark game was liable to turn on them, screaming cheat! However it was almost impossible to think Yami was losing. Not during a dark game of his own item's creation.

No the issue would be had to convince his Other half to do this. If Yami had called this fortified of a dark game, then Yami's sanity probably wasn't in the best condition. If Yami feel too deep into the call of his magic, then there was very little even Yugi could do to drag him out of it. Yugi knew that Yami wouldn't attack him... not matter how far Yami fell.

But what if he wouldn't listen?

Yugi was afraid to think of the consequences. He didn't want Minerva to die, didn't want anyone hurt on his behalf. The tremors were getting worse now, Yugi had long since given up on trying to control his shaking body. For it was no longer just the dark game that was causing them. Yugi was scared... he knew this woman, from the moment Yugi slipped into the room, Minerva's soul had instantly registered in Yugi's memory. The woman who had saved his life in the Ministry. Yet Yugi could do nothing to save her life in return, especially when the threat to her safety was entirely his fault.

She was going to lose, that much was obvious. The point of the dark game was to solve the puzzle that made up the floor. Or at least that was what Yugi had gathered. Instead of attempting to slove the puzzle however, Minerva was staring at the bolted door on the other side of the room, looking at ti as if it was her only salvation.

Minerva couldn't see Yugi, couldn't hear him, and knowing Yami's dark games, the poor woman probably hadn't even considered the consequences of her actions. Didn't understand that the only reason the door was there was to try and make her cheat? Or did she not even realize that opening the door would be cheating?

A lone tear snaked it's way down Yuugi's face, leaving a stinging trail as it trekked it's path. She was a good person, Yugi could feel the way her honour and loyalty wrapped around her like a glove. It was those qualities that had saved Yugi's life, those coupled with the same impatience that was to be her down fall here. Could Minerva not feel the sense of wrong that the door seemed to ooze? Even Yugi who had not heard the rules knew that the unsolved puzzle at Minerva's feet was the only exit.

Clenching his fists and trying so desperately to ignore the icy knife that was slowly being twisted in his chest, Yugi looked int he corner of his eyes at his Dark. Yami was standing stock still in front of the glass wall, staring intently where Yugi and Minerva were standing. However at the same time he seemed to be looking through both of them, not at them. Yami's arms where crossed so tightly across his chest, a pose that Yami only fell into if he was thinking about something... or waiting.

Yami must have known that Minerva was going to cheat. He was just going to sit there and wait until she finally caved, and lead her like a hapless lamb to a brutal death. Even as Yugi stared at his Dark's expression, he could feel his heart sink, further and further by the second. Yami should no outward sign of even recognizing Yugi's presence in the Game. Yugi knew Yami could see him, they had locked eyes when Yugi had first entered the game. Yet Yami had done absolutely nothing, not even twitch his finger sense Yugi had appeared.

Was Yami really that far into the game? To not even care that Yugi was here?

Despair welled up inside Yugi's chest, so powerful that it threatened to force Yugi down onto his knees. He chocked on the lump that had formed in his throat, as Yugi stared blankly at Minerva's wand hand. He could sense Yami's magic colliding with that of the wand's as Minerva started to think about her spell.

What could he do? Yugi had to do something. Minerva could not die such a pitiful death as cheating in a dark game. Not when it wasn't her fault... Not when she didn't know. There had to be something he could do... someway to stop this from happening. But how? Minerva didn't even know Yugi was there. He was doing no better at holding this woman back then the air in front of her face.

Unless...

Squeezing his eyes tight, Yugi tried to concentrate. Tried to ignore everything that was happening around him. The collar around his neck, burning with a pulsing heat, the ice like vice around his lungs, ignoring the very dark game itself. Instead, Yugi focused solely on what he was feeling, trying desperately to spread them outwards into the air around him.

Ryou had tried to show Yugi this trick for ages. To make those surrounding you to feel what you are. Ryou had used it once before this had all began to trick Jounouchi and Malik into crying during Anzu's chick flick. Sometime after they had teased Ryou for getting all watery eyed. Yugi had never really gotten the hang of it, at the time such a spell had seemed unimportant. Nothing more than a parlour trick. Not something Yugi was keen on using his magic for. Now Yugi was wishing he had spent more time on it.

The process of ending out all of Yugi's feelings of worry and despair shouldn't take too much energy. Ryou could do it without even blinking. Which was desperately important right now. Yugi gasped as the dark magic plunged into his chest once more, leaving no wound but only pain. But Yugi fought to push it from his mind, if he could just focus on sending his awareness out...

A frown flickered across Minerva's confident expression, so subtle that Yugi almost missed it. But he had seen it, Minerva could sense him! Yugi concentrated, pulling deeper. This would work! Biting his lip against the draining sensation of his magic, Yugi stared hopefully at Minerva's face. All the while trying to ignore the sudden elation that was bubbling in his chest for the first time in forever. While the sudden hope was an indescribably amazing change, it would interfere with what Yugi was trying to do. He had to convince Minerva that anything to do with that door was a bad idea.

A second later the frown on Minerva's face reappeared, flickering like an old lightbulb before it became a more permanent aspect of her features. The wand clenched tightly in Minerva's palm started to slip as the fingers that were keeping it there started to loosen. It would only be a moment more before she faltered. This last second was crucial.

Crucial enough that Murphy's law just had to put his two cents in.

Yugi couldn't help but jump at the cold presence that had pressed against his mind. It had happened so suddenly that all of Yugi's concentration skipped through his fingers like a fist full of sand. Yugi didn't even notice as Minerva regained her tight grip on the wand. He could feel something caressing his consciousness, coaxing it into openness.

At first Yugi thought it was the dark game. He could feel the tendrils seeping into his skin, picking at his soul like a slab of meat. But that wasn't right, whatever was pressing so insistently against his mind didn't have the same icy burn as the dark game. It was soothing, like floating in a pool of cool water on a hot summers day. It felt so good, so familiar.

A small gasp slipped unashamedly through Yugi's lips as for the first time in far longer than Yugi wanted to think about Yami's mind brushed against his own, and Yami's side of the mindlink slid open. Oh dear god... Yugi slid down onto his knees, and wrapped his arms around himself in a tight hug. Emotion after emotion filled Yugi's mind. Filling him with feelings that just couldn't be his, were never his but felt so right. Happiness, love, home, comfort, anger, insanity, rage and staisfaction.

Yugi's eyes grew huge as he tried to pulled his instantly scattered mind back into soem semblance of order. He had to stay in control, or what Yami was feeling would completely take over, and Yugi couldn't let that happen. He had to convince Yami to stop the game, not fall into the same thought process.

Yugi' moaned as the link slid open, so wide that their minds begain to wind around each other. To the point of almost becoming as they were during Duelist Kingdom, one mind, one person. Yugi's mouth fell open as gasping breaths slipped in an out of his lungs, barely doing their job. The world around Yugi started to go dark as he was completely enveloped by his dark's presence, and the glorious feelings it brought.

"Mou Hitori no Boku?" Yugi sent down the debilitatingly open link, it was the only thing he could manage at the moment. Everything was becoming blurred as his muscles started to lose any and all semblance of strength. To rapidly for his comfort Yugi was falling into a place of semi consciousness, nothing seemed important. How could anything be besides being near his dark. That was the only thing that mattered.

"Aibou..."

A smile spread across Yugi's face at the sound of his Dark's voice. He was safe, for the first time in so long, he was safe. The smile didn't disappear as Yugi tipped forward and the world became black. Yugi couldn't even draw enough thought to consider bracing from the impact against the hard marble floor.

It didn't matter however, because the impact never came.

/

As suddenly as it had come, the feelings of impending doom and dread had disappeared. Almost as if they had never existed in the first place, Minerva couldn't bring herself to believe that those feelings so intense that they had literally wrapped her stomach into knots, could disappear without a trace. The only sign that they had even existed in the first place was her memory.

Minerva frowned as she looked down at her fingers. The limbs were still shaking slightly, she could see her wand start to follow the tremors. Minerva squeezed her finger's tighter together in a better grip on her wand, tyring to force her fingers to become still once more.

What was going on? All of a sudden anything to do with the door, the glorious exit that stood so inviting before her had become so evil? It made no sense what so ever, her mind was saying that the door was her only way put of this forsaken place. The puzzle was most certainly not an option at this point. How could it be? That man, Yami... he was almost completely done his, and she had barely managed to match together four pieces.

But at the same time, Minerva's subconscious was screaming at her to turn around, to ignore the fact the door even existed. The little nagging voice in the back of her head was getting louder and louder with each passing second. Don't open the door, don't open the door, don't open the door.

Alohomora, it would be so easy. It was one of the simplest spells she knew. Chapter 7 of The Standard Books of Spells Grade One, if Minerva remembered correctly. There was no way that Yami could have magically locked the door to an extent Alohomora wouldn't work. All Minerva would have to do was flick her wrist and she could beat this man at his own twisted game.

Her wand hand never moved however, even as he mind ran through the steps once again, and again in a continuous loop. Minerva could not bring herself to even move a finger. As if she was staring at a boiling cauldron of water, tyring to convince herself to dump her hand in. It would be so easy to slip your hand into the scalding water, but there's always something holding you back from actually taking the leap and injuring yourself.

Even though the sudden flood of emotions had disappeared, Minerva could still feel the after effects pressing against her mind. The door, why was it there? It was far to easy to be an exit... what would be the point of being able to escape just like that. Too easy... unless it was only there to taunt her and Yami hadn't thought that Minerva would be able to break the lock... He did seem to be underestimating her abilities as a witch to the point of being condescending. More than that he seemed to think that witchcraft itself was nothing more than a set of parlour tricks.

There door was probably just there to annoy her, to taunt her and frustrate her while she worked on the impossible puzzle. Yami had made a mistake, he was over confident, and she would use it against him. With those thoughts in mind, Minerva once again raised her wand arm, and pointed her wand to the lock.

"Alo..."

Then again, Yami must have thought that she would go for the door. The spell hung on Minerva's lips as worry clouded her mind. Condescending and arrogant he may be, but Yami wasn't an idiot, it hadn't taken Minerva three seconds to realize that little fact. They say there is a fine line between genius and insanity, and while Yami had long since danced over that line, the strategic and tactical wisdom was still there. Yami had mentioned something about cheating earlier, about the penalties of such a thing. Minerva didn't even want to consider what this penalty game would entail. Would opening the door be considered cheating? Was Yami setting her up? Or was he not expecting Minerva to actually use the door?

"Oh Merlin..." Minerva swore under her breath, her fingers curling around the handle of her wand so tightly that she could feel the edges cutting into her skin. What to chose... If she opened the door, there was a chance that she would be cheating... and whatever twisted thing Yami planned on doing when she lost would become so much worse. At the same time... if she went back to the puzzle...there would be no way she could win. Yami was too close to being done for Minerva to even consider catching up.

How many times had she told her students not to take the easy route out? Transfiguration, Minerva had said almost every class since she had started teaching at Hogwarts, took time, and patience. But were values worth risking her life over?

Then again, the chances of her surviving what ever this was would probably be better if she played this game through to the end. Fairly, without cheating. But would this even be cheating? Yami hadn't even mentioned this silly little door during his instructions.

Can something truly be called cheating if it wasn't against the rules?

/

And yes it does end there, thank you very much. Because If I continued this chapter would be 20 pages long easily. This little section just keeps getting longer and longer

This seems to be a common tag for me: Remember killing the authoress, hating the authoress, forcing the authoress into hiding, or any other means of scaring, scarring, threatening or attacking the authoress mean no new chapters. XD

Gothabie.